Temperatures are swinging wildly from above 40F to single digits. Normal winter weather for the Mid-Ohio Valley. There's still so much to see out there, the lack of foliage exposing interesting fungi and lichens, and our first snow and plenty of rain keeping the ponds full.
I've been noticing a bright orange fungus on dead stumps around the property lately. Tentative identification indicates it is Stereum complicatum, aka crowded parchment. I'm hoping this is the correct id because I love the whimsical and easy-to-remember name. The Latin name comes from stereos meaning 'solid,' with the specific epithet meaning 'folded up.' This polypore performs the important ecological service of breaking down dead wood.
Tree-hugging lichens are also very visible these days, popping out against their drab surroundings. 'Tree-hugging' isn't an official lichen category, just my personal descriptor for these amazing life forms (a fungus and an alga) that favor fruit trees. They do not harm the trees, contrary to the belief of many a homeowner who is dismayed to find them on expensive peach and apple trees.
After a very dry summer and fall, the ponds are finally full and overflowing. It's far too late for them to serve as spawning pools for toads and frogs. At this time of year their main purpose is to provide interest for bored humans. I like to think that the wildlife corridor, of which the ponds form the lower terminus, provides wildlife benefit whether wet or dry. The ponds were the only laborious aspect of its establishment; the rest was created effortlessly when we stopped mowing.
While the task of mowing is practiced with religious zeal by our neighbors, we've discovered that cutting back a little (har har) yields great benefits. The brush and young trees that have sprung up in the wildlife corridor provide food and shelter to small critters year round. The poverty grass of the upper orchard makes this area more welcoming to deer than when it was close-cropped lawn. We've also indefinitely stopped mowing the soggy areas of the permanent pasture in the hope of encouraging tree growth for shade, soil stabilization, and general habitat improvement.
On a trip to Kalahari several years ago (the water park not the desert) I observed a large planting bed filled with poverty grass. A small plaque proclaimed it to be savanna grass, and voila', the unsightly grass associated with blighted properties was instantly transformed into a wild and exotic plant suitable for a hoity toity convention center entrance. We need more of this type of creative thinking!
When I'm not gazing out the window at the ponds and wondering why my seed catalogs haven't arrived, I'm perusing photos of the growing season. Was it really that green and lush? Despite the dry summer when we had very little standing water, the ponds still performed a service. Run off was held there, giving nearby plants a longer window of opportunity to utilize it. Tearthumb, seedbox, ironweed, and of course the exotic bananas shown below appreciated this courtesy.
Pictured below is a sign at our local urban wetland. Though in close proximity to the interstate (deafeningly so) the area provides a valuable oasis for birds, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. Or as I like to think of it, a crucial bank of native plant and animal genes for when civilization finally falls apart. Either way, it's all good.
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